


[Alt Timeline/Character Sketch] Damage Control

by dreamwriteremmy (ehryniewi)



Series: Taking fate into her hands [4]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Families of Choice, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illusions, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Post Episode: e062: Hatchets, Slice of Life, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-26 01:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3832078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehryniewi/pseuds/dreamwriteremmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Canon-complaint post Hatchets Alt Timeline) character sketch of the team in an alt timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Shelley hears Cecil announce that Maureen's resigned from radio, she takes a deep breath and lets it out and brushes her hands down her arms and along her lab coat. "Okay, guys change of plans. Gizmos away." 

She pulls out her cell phone and texts Maureen. "If you need somewhere to crash, we're open." 

She watches as everyone hides their supplies in various cabinets and drawers, then she takes charge. "Irina, kitchen duty. We're having a guest tonight. Em, join her. Make a quick and simple comfort food recipe."

"Tom, the cabinet to your left there should be a ring of keys to the liquor cabinet. Open it. We want the bottle labeled Nepenthe and six glasses."

One of the bushes outside the window hums a revolution song in a key that she can only define as "mischievous" and she chuckles. "Correction: make that seven glasses, fill the seventh now and put it on the window sill."

She gets up and goes to collect as many emergency blankets as possible from the closet and brings them to the common room building several interconnected caves around the room. Folding Maureen into the team under the table has given all of them more materials for being less like Outsiders.

It's also a little childish but even she knows near death experiences are totally valid reasons to hide under the covers. Even Cecil's assured her that much. Most of the senior members of the team have experienced at least one despite Carlos's best efforts to take on the dangerous jobs himself.

She goes down to wait at the door. Maureen nearly crashes into her as she scurries up the steps. She catches the former radio intern's arm and tugs her into the safety of their apartments over the lab.

Maureen doesn't even protest when Shelley says, "Maureen, hon, come on in. Stay for dinner and then we'll all drink to forget."


	2. Chapter 2

Shelley pushes Maureen down onto the ottoman in the common room and studies her. She's shaking a little which isn't typical Maureen. She grabs one of the clear stones from the entertainment center, looking through it at the former radio intern softening her eyes to catch her aura and frowns. Maureen's energy tends toward spiky in general, but it's very buzzy around her head today. "Hon, want some help calming down?"

Maureen doesn't look up but the sigh she gets implies a reluctant yes. She puts the crystal down and explains, "I'm going to put my hands on your shoulders like I do with Irina. I want you to just focus on your feet and try to even out your breathing."

She focuses on grounding Maureen down. There's a shuffle at the door and she lifts her head up. Em's standing there patiently. She raises one finger from Maureen's shoulder and mouths "a moment".

Then removes her hands and swipes her hands off Maureen's shoulders. "Yes, Em?"

"Peter's back from the outpost. He wanted to know if dinner's at the table or if we're camping out in the common room."

Shelley looks at Maureen. "Maureen's choice. She's our guest."

Maureen blinks and looks around the room and realizes that they've made an awful lot of nests. "Could we do both? Dinner at the table and maybe dessert and drinks out here?"

Shelley nods. "Sure."

Em grins. "Okay I'll have Peter set the table. And since we're camping after, we can try my new quick dessert recipe; I think I finally got the substitutions right last night!" 

Tom grins wandering in with the bottle of Nepenthe and a stack of six glasses. "Peter said we'll be drinking out here after we eat?"

Shelley nods, "Yeah." 

"Carlos'll kill us." 

"No, Carlos'll be glad we're finally actually following the laws for once. Even if some laws were meant to be broken for the sake of science. And I think we get a pass this evening since Taren wanted a glass himself?" 

"Yeah. Also I'll be right back. Shelley, Maureen you should go wash up. Em said food will be ready in 5."

Shelley nods, "Come along Maureen."

After dinner, Maureen grabs the glasses and the bottle of Nepenthe before anyone can touch them. "How many people here are lightweights?"

She chuckles when half the team raises their hands. "Okay then. Let me do something before we drink."

She grabs the bloodstones from the entertainment center and arranges them around the glasses and liquor bottle and closes her eyes. When she opens them she grins. "There. Auto-cutoff for everyone." She begins rearranging the bloodstones again and says, "Can someone get me a pitcher of water?"

When Peter returns with a pitcher of water, Maureen grins, "I'm going to let you guys experience a cheap party trick we learn in high school. When you can't pour yourself a new glass of this, switch to the water. This is an illusion. It's still water, but it's going to gain the properties of alcohol. You really won't be able to tell the difference."

Not long after they start drinking Maureen sighs. "I don't know why I did that. NVCC is going to kill me. I'm only freshmeat."

Shelley looks down at her phone. There's a missed text message from Carlos she taps it open to read.

"Yes. Consider this my electronic signature that Maureen's approved. Just make her fill out the intern file for the grant organization and have her bring it in with the NVCC forms the next time she's over."

She blinks. Makes a wild guess that this is one of those "messages that got tangled up in the time-space continuum" and looks up at Maureen.

"Hon, do you still need college credits?"

"Urgh yes."

"We got authorizations this afternoon while you were out doing that very dangerous radio work for Cecil from both NVCC and City Council that we're allowed to take Night Vale residents as interns legally now. You've done some amazing work for us under the table so I'm open to giving you an internship focusing on that second major in Alternate History and the minor in Approved Sciences. If I talk to Carlos and Cecil and Cecil agrees, we may be able to also help you cover whatever bit credit remains of your internship quota for NVCR as official Night Vale Radio Liaison for the local branch of the Lab since Carlos was our usual Liaison and you know he can't really do much of those reports when he's doing field research in the Desert Otherworld and our communication keeps getting offset. Also I do have a couple proposals Carlos wants to send to NVCC for a comparative science intensive but it needs editing and an non-outsider to liaison properly with NVCC since I'm getting an 'ugh outsiders' runaround every time I attempt to figure out who this is supposed to go to..."

Maureen stares at her, then slowly manages, "Well, it _can't_ be worse than editing Cecil's _personal_ stuff... So sure."

Shelley grins, "I'll give you some forms to fill out tonight for us before you leave and next time you visit, bring them and the NVCC forms I need to sign."

And sends the message that she's sure is what that first message was a reply to: "Have you gotten a listen to the show about Leann Hart attacking news bloggers and Maureen nearly dying again and Cecil announcing her public resignation because radio's too dangerous? Our internship paperwork to hire local residents authorization came in, I'm wondering if I can hire her? She's been a great help illegally the past couple months. And since you're not here, we desperately need a radio liaison locally."

 

Tom laughs, "Oh yeah that reminds me. We got you a labcoat on our last supply order, so you don't have to share with Cecil anymore. Since I know you hate that."

He lifts the box from the floor and passes it to Maureen who opens it. She stares at the patch, "Surviving the World?"

Tom grins, "It's an Outsider comic, but I figured you'd like it because it's also true."


End file.
